Mumbai: A Special Air India flight carrying 320 passengers from Egypt's capital Cairo arrived in Mumbai on Monday afternoon.
The flight mostly carried women, children and stranded tourists. The 747 Boeing aircraft, which has a capacity of 423 passengers, took off from Cairo on Sunday night at about 10 PM for Mumbai. Another 300 Tata Group workers and their family members are waiting to be evacuated.
Authorities say that more such flights can be operated if the chaos deepens or if there are attacks on Indians or their properties.
"We are taking steps to bring back people who want to come back to India. We have advised Indians to avoid non essential travel to Egypt," said SM Krishna, Foreign Affairs Minister.
"We are closely monitoring the situation in Egypt. It's an internal matter of Egypt, a country with which we have cordial relations," he further added.
There are about 3,600 Indians in Egypt of which 2,200 are in Cairo. Some Indian tourists are stranded in Sharm-el-Sheikh and efforts were underway to transport them. There are no reports of any Indian having been injured or assaulted since the unrest began on Tuesday.
The Boeing 747-800 was flown to Cairo yesterday as a special measure to airlift the Indians stranded there amidst nationwide unrest against the Egyptian government.
Air India has also decided to send its Mumbai-Jeddah flight further to Cairo this evening to pick up more Indians stuck in the Egyptian capital that has been rocked by violent protests for a week now, airport sources said.
According to current estimates, there are about 600 Indians, including tourists, who are to be transported back here. Another flight is expected to take off from Cairo later on Monday.
Authorities say that more such flights can be operated if the chaos deepens or if there are attacks on Indians or their properties.
"We are taking steps to bring back people who want to come back to India. We have advised Indians to avoid non essential travel to Egypt," said SM Krishna, Foreign Affairs Minister.
"We are closely monitoring the situation in Egypt. It's an internal matter of Egypt, a country with which we have cordial relations," he further added.
There are about 3,600 Indians in Egypt of which 2,200 are in Cairo. Some Indian tourists are stranded in Sharm-el-Sheikh and efforts were underway to transport them. There are no reports of any Indian having been injured or assaulted since the unrest began on Tuesday.
The Boeing 747-800 was flown to Cairo yesterday as a special measure to airlift the Indians stranded there amidst nationwide unrest against the Egyptian government.
Air India has also decided to send its Mumbai-Jeddah flight further to Cairo this evening to pick up more Indians stuck in the Egyptian capital that has been rocked by violent protests for a week now, airport sources said.
According to current estimates, there are about 600 Indians, including tourists, who are to be transported back here. Another flight is expected to take off from Cairo later on Monday.
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